Jim Gavin rules out Dublin footballers using new facilities at Abbotstown

It answers all of Dublin's problems, on paper at least. But Jim Gavin has insisted he doesn't envisage using the GAA's new National Games Development Centre for training purposes.

Dublin, who are chasing their fourth league title in a row, have no training base of their own and are currently using the Innisfails club in north Dublin, having trained at various grounds over the years.

As recently as last year, Dublin GAA’s attempts to buy the Spawell complex for the purposes of developing a training centre and a mid-sized stadium came to nought.

Against that background, the recent opening of the €12 million national training hub at Abbotstown, a facility open to all counties and clubs, appeared to be a particularly timely one for Dublin.

Preferential treatment

GAA director general Páraic Duffy immediately insisted that Dublin would not be given preferential treatment, and Gavin has now revealed he doesn’t plan on training there.

Asked if he could foresee Dublin using the facilities at any point in his reign as manager, he shook his head.

“Not presently, no,” said Gavin. “We move around a bit between pitches and gyms. Dublin don’t have their own home as such for training facilities. But the situation has been good for us so we’ll keep it that way.

“It wasn’t built for us, as in the Dublin GAA, and I know already that some senior intercounty football teams have used it for challenge games, and I think that’s a great initiative.

“It is pretty accessible from all parts of the island. I think that’s good to see. And clubs have used it already so it’s a great facility for them. That’s where I’d see it being used.”

Various Dublin teams are expected to use the facilities at Abbotstown, though Gavin believes the county remains committed to buying and developing its own training centre.

“The officers of the Dublin GAA have quite clearly stated that and we’ve seen their ambition to build their own home,” he said. “They don’t consider that [Abbotstown] their training home for the development of players. They’re still looking for sites and hopefully that will come to fruition in the short-term rather than the longer term.

“We’re a little bit behind other counties in that regard with the challenges that the minors, the under-21s and ourselves have for getting pitches during the winter season. We don’t actually have a home yet and certainly that isn’t our home nor won’t be our home.”

Unbeaten run

Neighbouring counties Meath, Kildare, Louth and Wicklow have all built their own training centres, though Dublin’s nomadic existence clearly hasn’t held them back.

In Gavin’s three-and-a-half seasons in charge, they have claimed eight of the nine available league and championship trophies and are currently on a 21-game unbeaten run in those competitions.

It is a record that stacks up favourably against the Dublin team of the 1970s which set the GAA world alight and engaged in some memorable battles with Kerry, claiming three All-Ireland wins between 1974 and 1977.

“If you’re going to reference it back to the ’70s, they were a unique group,” said Gavin.

“They weren’t just a unique group but they also had a unique manager [Kevin Heffernan]. They’ll never be matched. That would be my opinion on it.”